What does Fenix 8 / Tactix 8 Need To Have To Make You Upgrade?

Jonathan Mathews said:

If the watch can receive GPS information there must be someway to send a ping back to the satellites.

This shows ignorance. Sending a signal strong enough to reach satellites requires a lot of power that a tiny battery may not be able to deliver and a large enough antenna. Where do you see a watch like Garmin having that antenna? All existing satellite communicators are way larger

Jonathan Mathews said:

Higher resolution on the screen.

There is already Fenix with larger resolution, and it is called Epix.

If you want a higher resolution with a MIP display, such display matrix doesn't exist. Well, there is one with 320x300 resolution that was used in Suunto 9, but that display has poor contrast and worse clarity than the one used in Fenix 6x/7X. I can tell you that as a former user of Suunto 9. The smaller pixel is in a passive LCD display the less light it reflects, so it is more difficult to achieve a good contrast. Even Suunto has discontinued using that display matrix and switched to another one with 260x260 resolution that seems to be the same one as used in Fenix 7X.

silentvoyager said:

This shows ignorance. Sending a signal strong enough to reach satellites requires a lot of power that a tiny battery may not be able to deliver and a large enough antenna. Where do you see a watch like Garmin having that antenna? All existing satellite communicators are way larger

So we're going to ignore the fact that this technology was available in 2013 in the Breitling Emergency 2, albeit at a price, and is now available on an Apple iPhone near you.

mcbit said:

So we're going to ignore the fact that this technology was available in 2013 in the Breitling Emergency 2

Yes, of course the Breitling has a thick additional crown. The emergency antenna is a wire that is housed in the case and becomes a transmitter in an emergency by unscrewing the crown and unfolding the wire. This technique requires a lot of space. Both inside the watch, and outside (look at this thick crown). Technically, at least for an "analog watch", everything is certainly feasible. In a smartwatch, however, the battery and the chips alone require a lot of space.
Even if the fenix is an outdoor watch, I don't know if it really makes sense to make the watch so bulky that it becomes unusable for a marathon or similar.

Oh, and the Breitling weighs 140 grams. Without bracelet.

At least I don't want to wear such a clunky "monster" on my arm during sports.

Hey, the fenix is a sports watch. Just my opinion.

bluefish said:

Yes, of course the Breitling has a thick additional crown. The emergency antenna is a wire that is housed in the case and becomes a transmitter in an emergency by unscrewing the crown and unfolding the wire. This technique requires a lot of space. Both inside the watch, and outside (look at this thick crown). Technically, at least for an "analog watch", everything is certainly feasible. In a smartwatch, however, the battery and the chips alone require a lot of space.
Even if the fenix is an outdoor watch, I don't know if it really makes sense to make the watch so bulky that it becomes unusable for a marathon or similar.

Oh, and the Breitling weighs 140 grams. Without bracelet.

Also, let's not forget that Breitling is PLB Category 2, and the signal produced by it is analog low power low frequency ping that doesn't provide actual coordinates. Instead low orbit SARSAT satellites must home on the signal. That would provide fairly low accuracy and low precision and may only be adequate for sea rescue or other open spaces. When I run in mountains I'd rather rely on a separate InReach device than have Breitling like capability in my watch.

And as for the iPhone SOS capabilities mentioned above, that proves my point that a much larger and more powerful battery is required and that a large directional antenna is required, which is located at the top part of iPhone case. The phone must be held in a special way for the signal to be directed towards the satellites, and iPhone has a special UI to help with that. But, from what I read even iPhone's antenna isn't large enough for the technology to work reliably.

Jonathan Mathews said:

1. They added a remote SOS feature via satellite.  Often times in remote areas there is no cell service making the current feature basically useless. If you have cell service in an emergency situation you would just use your phone assuming the screen wasn’t broke. This upgrade could save lives and for rugged outdoorsmen, First Responders, and Operators this could be instrumental. If the watch can receive GPS information there must be someway to send a ping back to the satellites.

It would be cool if the watch had InReach functionality built into it, but for myself and I suspect most other people, it would only serve as a replacement for my existing satellite device, it wouldn't bring anything new to the table other than I get to carry one less device with me to the backcountry. So I'm not really sure it would save any lives, really. People who have a need for a satellite messenger and can afford one already have one, and those who don't will likely not be Fenix users anyways, so they'll continue to not have one.

Jonathan Mathews said:

2. Higher resolution on the screen.  Apple is way ahead of the curve here. I imagine higher resolution would affect battery life but if possible that would certainly be key. After all, looking at a watch is what you do so what you see on the face is represented quality from the perspective of the consumer. Garmin resolution is not exactly top end.

Garmin already has that - the Epix is a Fenix with an Apple-like high resolution display.

Technically Apple is the one who is behind the curve here, because they only offer a high-res amoled display and don't offer anything for people who want a battery that lasts more than 2 days.

1. No solar but more display

2. More color MIP please, no LED

3. No DLC coating but original Ti or stainless steel

I want also some less prioritized functions:

1. Auto connect with the fitness gym device to read my activities.

2. More accurate detect of my gym

3. blood pressure & blood sugar

1.Better Apple iPhone integration: A microphone to access Siri (so many 3rd party speakers can do this, why can’t a watch?)

2. Upgraded HR sensor - Fenix 7 pro offered an improvement but there is still better performance that can be had

3. on non-Amoled, more colours, better contrast and resolution

4. Cellular connectivity would be a nice touch